Saved and Secure Eternally

Transcript

GR 374
10/5/1980
Saved and Secure Eternally
John 10:22-30
Gil Rugh

John chapter 10 in your Bibles. John’s Gospel and the 10th chapter. We're racing right along in our study of John. It's been just over a year now. Always a conflict when you study a long book like John—how much do you hurry and what do you leave out? We may be in John until the Lord comes, or 'til I go to be with the Lord at this rate! But at any rate, we're not going to take a large section this morning.

There are so many great truths presented in John. We want to be sure that you get something at least of a grasp of what is presented here. That it becomes part of our lives and that we become conformed to it.

Chapter 10 is a key chapter for believers in the New Testament—on the work of Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd. He presents Himself as the Good Shepherd in verse 11 because He lays down His life for the sheep, demonstrating what a great shepherd He really is. He has the well-being of the sheep foremost in His mind. He is going to die for them. Our salvation is a result of His willingness to die in our place, to pay the penalty for our sins so that we through faith in His death and resurrection might have life.

He also demonstrates Himself as the Good Shepherd because He is intimately acquainted with us. In verse 14 of chapter 10, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me." There is a mutual intimacy in the relationship of Christ and His sheep—totally different than the hireling. The hireling is not primarily interested in sheep. He's primarily interested in pay. But Jesus Christ knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him. There is an intimacy involved which will be further developed in the section before us today

Now as Jesus talked about giving His life for the sheep, He clarifies in verses 17 and 18 that this is totally voluntary. He has authority to lay down His life, and He has authority to take His life back up again, so that we are clear that He is not a shepherd who gets overwhelmed by the enemy. He's not a shepherd who involuntarily dies if He tries to protect the sheep. But He is a shepherd with total authority, the authority to lay down His life and also the authority to take it back again. He is in total control from beginning to end.

Now. This kind of clear teaching of the tremendous love that is to be displayed in His death and subsequent resurrection, the tremendous authority that is here to give His life and then to take it back again results in a division among the Jews. We noted that every time Jesus Christ is presented, division results. The same is true today. When Jesus Christ is presented, we either believe and are saved or we do not believe. But everyone responds. So division occurs and it occurs among the Jews.
And there are two logical conclusions, depending on your basic premise. For those who do not believe, they assume He is crazy. He's a madman, He's insane. In verse 20, "Many of them were saying, 'He has a demon, and is insane."' Now there is a certain logic to that. If what Jesus is saying is not true, then it is the saying of a madman, a person who is out of his mind, gone crazy. For a mere human being to stand up and say, 'I can lay down my life when I want, and then I have the power to take
it back again. I have power to die on behalf of others that they might have life if that's a lie, He is crazy! For me to stand up and say I have the power to lay down my life, then I have power to resurrect myself back up to life—obviously that would be the sayings of one who has gone crazy. So there is a logic to that if you do not believe what He is saying is true.

For the others, verse 21, "These are not the sayings of one demon- possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?" What He says and what He does, both are contrary to the assumption that He is demon-possessed and crazy. Rather, He speaks the truth and does the work of God. Now on that note, John moves us into the continuation of the discussion with a time note.

"At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was talking in the temple in the portico of Solomon." Now as we noted, the last time note we had a couple of chapters earlier, was two months earlier than this feast. This feast occurs around December 25th on our calendar—25th of Kesslu, which is approximately our December. So it would be around our Christmas time that He is talking about. About 2 months have elapsed, and we don’t know where those two months are eaten up. Whether there are a few days here or a week there, we don’t know. The flow in the discussion here seems to indicate that not much time has gone by between verses 21 and 22 because when we move into this section Jesus resumes His discussion of the sheep, and His relationship to the sheep and their relationship to Him. So it would seem that we are in the same time frame that chapter 10 has been operating.

The Feast of Dedication—we know the feast by a different name today. It is still celebrated by the Jews. It's the Feast of Lights or Hanukkah, and around our Christmastime, the Jews celebrate what is Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights. Now it occurs in the winter—a little bit of a time note there. In Jerusalem that would probably mean it was a rainy time of year, and Jesus is in a covered area for protection from the elements. Now you remember something of the historical background of Hanukkah or the Feast of Dedication. It goes back to the period of time between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. Around 164 BC was when this feast was instituted. Just a few years prior to that, 161 BC, a man named Antiochus Epiphanes, who has a prominent place in the prophecies of Daniel, wreaked havoc on Jerusalem. Antiochus Epiphanes was ruling Palestine and Syria, and he had gone down into Egypt to attempt to expand his empire. So the Egyptians called on the Romans for help. The Romans were the dominant world power at this time. The Romans had an admiral land in Egypt and confront Antiochus Epiphanes, and he told Antiochus that he would have to return to Palestine or do battle with the Romans. And Antiochus said that he needed time to think about that. So the Roman admiral drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and told him he could have until he left the circle to make his decision. The Romans were a rather confident people and this admiral knew there was no chance that Antiochus would take on the Roman Empire. And Antiochus in effect is humiliated publicly, so as he returns through Palestine he takes out his vengeance and rage on the Jewish people. And particularly at Jerusalem. There is tremendous massacre. History says some 80,000 Jews were slain on this occasion. That many more were taken into exile as slaves by Antiochus. Women and children were executed in mass numbers. And on that occasion, he desecrated the temple by offering a pig as a sacrifice to the Greek gods. Of course, the pig was an unclean animal to the Jews and he did this as a way of defaming the temple. It was a sacrilegious act. Now three years later, Judas Maccabeus was about to liberate Jerusalem for the Jews. And in 164 BC he rededicated the temple and the altar. And in connection with this, a feast was instituted—The Feast of Dedication, as it is called here because it was the dedication again of the temple and the altar to God. In connection with this feast, there was a lampstand lit and all the Jews set lights in their windows. So it is also known as the Feast of Lights or Hanukkah. Now interesting tradition was associated with the lighting of the lamps. They used these little oil lamps, and you had to have the oil that had been properly consecrated and dedicated to the Lord. A tradition that arose said that there was only one little sealed vial of oil that could be found to light the lampstand in the temple. So they poured the oil in and lit it, and miraculously the oil burned for 8 days until there was time to reconsecrate and dedicate new oil. So the feast lasts 8 days. It's an 8-day feast during which time lights are in the windows of the Jews and the temple was rededicated. That feast will be observed again by the Jews as we come into approximately our Christmas time. Now that's the time note here. It happens in the winter. So in verse 23, "It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon." It was called the portico of Solomon because they had a tradition that it was left over from Solomon’s temple. It was not a valid tradition but nonetheless that's where it got its name. It had columns there and a roof over it so there would be protection from the rain and from the elements. And in this environment now we find Jesus teaching, and He is confronted in verse 24 with the Jews. "The Jews gathered around Him and were saying to Him, 'How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."' Now Jesus has not in a public way clearly said to the Jews on any occasion, I am the Messiah of Israel, make no mistake about it. I am the Messiah. He has not made that kind of public announcement. So the Jews say, You're leading us along. Don't keep us in suspense. Tell us, Are you or are you not the Messiah?

Now Jesus responds in verse 25, "I told you, and you do not believe." Now even though He has not clearly stated, I am the Messiah, He has told them through His teaching that He is the Messiah. On two occasions we have at least the clear presentation that He is the Messiah. Back in chapter 4, the woman at the well, and verse 25. "The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.' Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am He."' I am the Messiah. But this is given to a Samaritan woman, a private disclosure, so to speak—to a woman who is cut off from the mainstream of the nation Israel.

Look over in chapter 9. The man who was healed from his blindness. In verse 35. "Jesus heard that they had put him out; and finding him, He said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?'" And remember, Son of Man is a title from the Book of Daniel for the Messiah. "He answered and said, 'And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?' Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.'" So in effect, I am the Son of Man, I am the Messiah. But again, this has been given to a man who has just been kicked out of Israel, excommunicated from the synagogue, so it's not given to the nation as a whole. But the entire tenor of Jesus' teaching pointed to the fact that He was the Messiah. And those who believed in Him recognized that fact.

Look in John chapter 6. After that great discourse on Jesus as the bread of life, His body being food and drink and you must partake of Him. Verse 66, "As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore. Jesus said therefore to the twelve, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'" You see, for those who believed in Him there was the recognition and understanding that He is the Messiah. But for those who would not believe, they could not perceive and understand what He was teaching. Now why didn't Jesus just come out and say, I AM THE MESSIAH? Well, one reason may have been the idea the Jews had of what the Messiah would be. Their concept was a political concept. For Jesus to say, I AM THE MESSIAH, would have resulted in the nation saying, Fine. Deliver us from the Romans. They were not primarily interested in the spiritual ministry of the Messiah. They were interested only in the political deliverance of Messiah. So what Jesus does is through His teaching focus attention on the spiritual ministry that is His, to transform and change lives spiritually. Now it is true, if the Jews had believed in Him political deliverance would have followed. But spiritual deliverance must be first. And the Jews were unwilling to have it. All they were interested in was the political deliverance. So that may be the reason Jesus presented Himself through His teaching, so that they might see that He was the Messiah.

Now as you come back to John chapter 10, Jesus has told them in John 8:58, "Before Abraham was, I AM." They recognized that as a claim of deity. Again, what does Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, say about the Messiah. This child that will be born unto you, what will His name be? The Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father! They should have recognized He claims to be deity, He claims to be Messiah, in effect, from our Old Testament Scriptures.In verse 25, Jesus goes on "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me." So He says, not only what I’ve said but what I have done testifies to who I am.

Look back in chapter 5 of John. There was a man healed at Bethesda. Verse 33 and following He has said John the Baptist testified that He was the Messiah. But then in verse 36, "But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me." They are the testimony. Now isn’t it amazing, that here is a man who has healed the lame, healed the blind, has raised the dead, has given the dumb speech, has given the deaf hearing, and they say 'Is there any evidence that He is the Messiah? I wonder if there is any proof?' The Old Testament said that He would take upon Himself their illnesses. He would heal them. He does these tremendous miracles but those who will not believe are not impressed. They can still come to Him, at the closing of a 3-year ministry with all of His teaching and all of His miracles and say ’Would you tell us whether you are the Messiah or not?’ For those who have made up their minds not to believe, there is no evidence that can be offered. The Son of God Himself was unable to convince them because they would not believe.

Come back to John chapter 10. Jesus presents it in a striking fashion in verse 26. "But you do not believe, because you are not (out of, or) of My sheep." Now they say, 'Tell us if you're the Messiah.' But Jesus says, ’I've told you and I've shown you but you don't believe, and the reason you don't believe is because you are not My sheep.' Now note what He does not say. Very important. He does not say 'You are not My sheep because you don't believe.' That's what we might have expected. 'You are not My sheep because you don't believe'—NO. He says, 'You don’t believe because you are not My sheep.' And it seems like we've come in a circle. Earlier we talked in John about sheep and how do you become a sheep? By believing in Jesus Christ? There’s an element of truth in that. Those who believe in Him are His sheep. But now we're told that those who are His sheep believe in Him, and it seems like we have a circle. His sheep believe in Him, and those who believe in Him are His sheep, but no! He is carrying us back. It’s true in one sense that in believing you become His sheep. It’s a visible manifestation. But Jesus is going back beyond that. He says, ’You don’t believe in Me because you are not of My sheep.' In other words, what we have here is the doctrine of election—where the sovereign God in eternity past has selected out some to be the sheep of Jesus Christ, and they will believe in Him. And Jesus says 'The reason you don’t believe in Me is because you are not My sheep.' Same point.

Back to John chapter 6. Some of you thought when we got done with the Book of John we'd be done with the doctrine of election, but rejoice we are not! John chapter 6, starting with verse 37. ’’All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” You note that—"All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me." My sheep believe—the ones that the Father gives Me come to Me. "The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." Down in verse 39, "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." This point will be developed a little bit later in chapter 10. But you note, ’All that He has given Me...' Down to verse 44, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him." Over in verse 65, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father." So it is those that the Father has given to Christ who will respond to His call and believe in Him, so our being His sheep even precedes our faith. So what has happened in eternity past is that God has sovereignly selected some to experience salvation in His Son,>Jesus Christ, and then in time it is appointed that they will believe in Him for the experience of that salvation. Now we're not going to pursue all the details of the doctrine of election. We spent a number of weeks at the end of chapter 6, and if you weren't here or want to be refreshed, you can get the three tapes from our Tape Library for the details. But basically, what this doctrine says is that God created humanity and humanity has rebelled against God. Every person is guilty of rebellion against God, is a sinner in rebellion against God, and God sovereignly from rebellious humanity selected some to experience salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. Now the point the Scripture makes is that is mercy and grace, that God could have very fairly and justly sentenced every single person to hell and that would be fair. But in mercy and grace, He chose to select some for salvation. We right away say it's not fair, but it is fair. It's fair if He sends everyone to hell. It's mercy and grace if He doesn't send everyone to hell. Why did He not selected everyone? I cannot tell you. Why did He select those that He selected? I cannot tell you. God's answer is, I did it because I chose to do it. And that's the answer. So when Jesus speaks to these Jews, He says there's a very simple reason why you don't believe in Me. You were not appointed to be My sheep. Then you say, Wait a minute, it's not their problem if they don't believe. No, come back to John 10.

What does He say in verse 26? "You do not believe." It's their responsibility. But the reason is that they're not His sheep. You know what? We are so stubborn and so rebellious that we will not believe. That is the character of every single person. What this statement does is demonstrate how sinful we really are. We are such rebellious sinners, that when the Son of God Himself is present on earth, when He Himself does the teaching, when He Himself does the miracles, we are still so wretchedly sinful that we stand and plant our feet and say, I will not believe. And all that does is demonstrate how wretchedly sinful we really are. That when confronted with the Son of God Himself, when I'm taught by Him, when I'm confronted by His miracles, my feet are planted and I will not believe.

But you know what mercy and grace is? That God sovereignly overpowered my will and determined that I would come to believe. That's mercy and grace, and that's what He's talking about here. "You will not believe." That demonstrates your great sinfulness. But in mercy and grace God has selected some to be a flock of sheep for Me, and they do believe. Now it's important here to note. It is important to believe. You are not a sheep and therefore it is irrelevant if you believe. All God's sheep will believe, and you do not enter into your salvation until you do believe. This will come out in a few moments in subsequent verses.

It is faith in Christ that results in your being born into God's family and entering into the salvation that He has provided; and before that time, you are lost, you are under condemnation, you are dead in sin. But yet if God has chosen you, you will come to the salvation that He has appointed for those that He has ordained to be the sheep of Christ.

I thought it was interesting in verse 26 also. You know, this doctrine we're told—Don't present it to unbelievers. And sometimes when we talk about this doctrine at Indian Hills, people say 'I have a concern when you present that at Indian Hills. What about unsaved people in the congregation?' But who is Jesus talking to in verse 26? Unbelievers. "You do not believe because you are not My sheep." So He's very simply telling them the reason they don't believe is because they are sinners in rebellion against God, and only God's grace could overpower that rebellion. And that happens only with His sheep. "You do not believe, because you are not My sheep."

Alright, we'll go on and another element or two of that will come out as we move into the next verses. He talks then about 'My sheep.' "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand." You note, "My sheep, they hear My voice, I know them, they follow Me." There is a tremendous stress on the persons involved here. My sheep hear My voice, I know them, they follow Me, I give eternal life to them. That stress on the involvement here of Christ. "My sheep hear My voice." In other words this is going back to the analogy of the first part of chapter 10. The sheep respond to the voice of the shepherd. Those that God has called in eternity past, elected in eternity past, when the Gospel is presented (in this case by Christ) they hear and believe. They hear His voice. MI know them, they follow Me. Christ says, I know who they are and they follow Me. Let me make a point here so you don't get confused. I need to be careful that I don't develop the attitude, Well, I presented the Gospel to them. They didn’t believe so they must not be the elect. Cause if they don't believe when I present the Gospel, they probably won't believe when anyone presents the Gospel. And that's not true. I don't know who the elect are. There are people I have presented the Gospel to as clearly as I thought could be done and they did not believe. But some time subsequently, someone else confronted them and they did believe. So we need to be careful that we don't sit in judgment on who the elect are and who they are not because I don't have any idea who they are. My responsibility is to present the Good News concerning Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit of God's responsibility to reach in and take hold of lives and draw the elect to Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, "Some sow the seed, some water the seed and some harvest the crop." And in some places I'm simply sowing the Word. Some places I'm watering the Word. In some places I'm involved in the harvesting process. We need to be careful about this doctrine. It's an encouragement to know that salvation is God's work and my responsibility is to present the truth of God's Word, and God's responsibility is to save the lost. I need to be careful that I don't develop an attitude the elect will believe, so But I need to present it with the desire of their salvation. Everyone I have the opportunity to present it to I take it they may be the elect because God is giving this person the opportunity to hear the Gospel. That's one thing He is going to do with the elect. They will hear. So I approach every person as though they may be, and only God knows.

"My sheep hear My voice, I know them, they follow Me." John develops that point in his first epistle. That’s the development of the First Epistle of John—the sheep of God follow Him. Not with that analogy, but basically those who belong to Christ follow Him. And the way you can tell one of those who belong to Christ is, Is he following Christ? Not primarily by his doctrinal statement or creed, but whether he is following Jesus Christ. Because those who have heard His voice and believed follow Him as their shepherd. That’s why it is totally incongruent for a person to claim to be saved, to claim to have salvation and not be following Jesus Christ. In His First Epistle John gets strong and says they are simply liars. That’s how I describe them.

Verse 28, a tremendous verse. "I give eternal life to them." Note. ’I give it to them. They don’t earn it by following Me. They don't earn it by doing something. I give it to them. It is a gift.’ The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I give to them eternal life. Eternal life is a relationship with God which is eternal. Now we often stress that the fact that eternal life denotes a quality of life and that is true. But in this context here, eternal life denotes primarily duration. Because He contrasts it with those who will perish. Life—in Scripture, death is separation. When you die physically, you are separated from your body. The person leaves his body and physical death occurs. Spiritual death occurs when a person is separated from God. Eternal death occurs when a person is separated from God for eternity in hell. When we talk about eternal life, we're talking about being brought into a personal relationship with God. That’s what life is. Spiritual life—being brought into a personal relationship with God for eternity. That is eternal life. Now that is something that we are given by Christ. It's not something we always had even though we were the elect from eternity past.
I did not have eternal life. I received eternal life when I believed in Jesus Christ because Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said "You were dead in trespasses
and sins." There was a time when I was separated from God, under condemnation for sin. But it was when I came to believe that Jesus Christ was the One who died for me that I received cleansing and I was brought into that personal relationship with God which gives life, which gives purpose and meaning to this present life, which fills the void that exists because I was created for that relationship. And this will go on forever.

The other side of that is given in the rest of the verse. ’’They shall never perish.” In other words, to say that they have eternal life is to say that they shall never perish. To perish, to go to hell, to suffer destruction, to be separated from God for eternity. An awful concept, that word 'perish.' And yet Jesus says, 'For My sheep, they receive eternal life, and they never perish.' And it's put here in a way that is super strong. You could translate it, 'They shall never in any way perish for eternity.' He puts two negatives there and then adds eternity on the end, and what He is saying is that there isn't any possibility in any way for all eternity that any of My sheep would perish! In case you didn't understand what it meant to have eternal life. To have eternal life is to mean there is no possibility in any way for all eternity that you shall ever perish. Now if you don't know it or not or haven't recognized it yet, this is one of the most exciting truths that we have in the Word of God for believers. The Doctrine of Eternal Security. It means that once you have trusted Christ as your Savior, you have been saved forever, for all eternity. I am saved and I can do nothing to lose my salvation. It was given to me as a gift from God—eternal life when I believed in Jesus Christ. Now if I have eternal life and I shall never in any way perish for all eternity, can I ever lose it? Well, maybe you'll do something bad. Then I didn't have eternal life, and never in any way for all eternity perish. Maybe I had life for 25 years, then perish. Then I didn't have eternal life and I perished. If there were no other verses in all the Scripture on the security of the believer, this would be adequate to demonstrate and prove finally that once you have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, you are saved for ever. Now if it hasn’t been clear enough, He goes on! "And no one shall snatch them out of My hand." Now what the first part of this verse does is give it from the perspective of the sheep. Think like a sheep, since you're a believer you are one! Now from that perspective, I have eternal life and I’ll never perish. From the shepherd's perspective—no one shall snatch them out of My hand. They are secure in Me. Now for a number of years I was part of a group that did not believe in eternity security and they taught that even though no one else could take you out of Christ's hand, you might climb out. And every night before I went to bed, as I prayed (I was sure I climbed out that day) so I prayed to get back in. But you know, if you stop and think, it doesn't fit the analogy of John chapter 10 at all. Think about a shepherd who is out in the field with His sheep, leaning on his staff and his sheep are jumping over the cliff. Oh dumb sheep, they always jump over that cliff! What would you say about that shepherd? It's not his fault. The sheep decided to jump over the cliff. What's he to do? What can a shepherd do when sheep jump over cliffs? They're dumb! You say, what kind of shepherd would that be? Unacceptable. You know who's responsibility for the security of those sheep? The shepherd is! You know who's to blame if the sheep are jumping off cliffs? The shepherd is! You know who is to blame if I climb out of His hand? The shepherd is! You say, that borders on blasphemy. That's right. That's why you'd better not teach it—you can't get out! And here I am trying to get out of a crack in the fingers! You can't do it! You are totally secure, held tight. If I didn't, I'd have jumped out and lost my eternal life so then I would perish and everything He said would be nonsense. If eternal life was only life until you lose it, if not perishing for all eternity means not perishing until you perish, nothing means anything! I mean it does get to be ridiculous, does it not? We are saved forever.

Now right away people say, ’That’s a sinning religion. That means you can do what you want, and go to heaven.' Herman Hoight, former president of Grace Seminary says something I like—he said, When God saved me, He saved my wanter! And that happens. I don’t want to do what I used to do. I'm not kept in line by fear I'll lose salvation. I love Him, I want to serve Him. I don't want to do what I used to want to do. Old things are passed away; everything's become new. That doesn't mean I'm perfect. It doesn't mean the flesh doesn't manifest itself. But I don't want to do what the old man wants to do. Even when the old me wants to assert himself, I really don't want to and there's a conflict. It's not really an issue. I believe I'm saved and secure for all eternity, but that doesn't make me want to go out and sin. You know what it makes me want to do? Makes me want to serve Him more. Love Him more when I realize what He's done for me. I am secure in Him, safe and secure.

"Have eternal life, will not perish, and no one can snatch them out of My hand." Unless we fail to understand, perhaps someone would say 'Yes, but the Father gave them to Him, maybe the Father will take them away.' Note verse 29. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." So it was the Father's purpose in giving them to Christ that they would be secure, and further, there is an equality of power to be in the Son's hand is to be in the Father's hand. There is an equality of power even though there is a distinction of persons. We're talking about the person of the Son and the person of the Father, but to be in the hand of the Son is just as secure as to be in the hand of the Father. One and the same thing. There is an equality of power. This is demonstrated here. I am totally, absolutely, perfectly secure.

Now note here. He does not say He will keep you from trouble. But He will preserve you through it. He does not say that He will keep you from disaster, but He will preserve you through them. Does not say He will keep you from trial, but He’ll preserve you through it. The promise here is that no matter what happens, no matter what confronts me, I belong to Him for eternity. Nothing can change that. What a tremendous, tremendous secure position I have as a believer. What a burden is off to know that I'm His sheep. He's the Shepherd. You know what? If it wasn't for Him keeping me, I wouldn't have my salvation. I'd lose it before I knew what to do. But I'm secure because it all depends on Him. I can rest secure in the shepherd. I belong to Him and I'm His responsibility. And my responsibility is simply to follow Him as His sheep, to follow His direction as His sheep. What if I don't? He'll kick you out of the flock—is that what a shepherd does with a sheep who won't listen? 'What'd you do with that sheep who wouldn't listen?' 'I kicked him over the cliff!' 'Oh, you're a great shepherd. Yes, I really like your tact. You've got a way with sheep!' You say that's awful! Awful! What does he do? Well, sometimes He has to chasten them, I'm told. Sometimes they have to break the leg of the sheep or something like that. But the sheep is His. He does whatever is necessary to keep them because it's not an option that the sheep will leave. The shepherd determines, not the sheep. It's not what the sheep want but what the shepherd wants.

So we are secure. We need to keep this truth in mind as things press in upon us and trials come and we say 'Oh, I wonder if the Lord will sustain me like He has in the past. I wonder IF the Lord will meet my needs like He has before. I wonder if the Lord's forgotten about me with all that's going on in my life.' I sit back and say 'Wait, I'm one of His sheep. There are no 'what if's' because He has guaranteed to see me through.' He's not only guaranteed to keep me secure through this life but through eternity, and I should worry what if? What if what? What if God ceases to be God? What if someone stronger than Him takes me out of His hand? Ridiculous! All of it! I'm secure because God Himself has guaranteed my security. He is greater than all!

Back in the Old Testament. Let's look at two passages—Isaiah chapter 49.
Not being Jewish, a lot of the background that we read in the New Testament maybe alludes us, not having the familiarity the Jews had with the Old Testament. But
this concept of being safe in the Father's hand is reiterated in the Old
Testament. Isaiah 49, verse 1. "Listen to Me, 0 islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me." And I take it we have something of the doctrine of election there. "He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me." See there the protection? The shadow of His hand He has concealed Me. "He has also made Me a select arrow; He has hidden Me in His quiver." Note the security in belonging to the Lord.

Look over in chapter 51, verse 16. "And I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are My people.'" In verse 15, He is the God who stirs up the sea. Verse 16, He's the One who established the heavens and the earth. He is also the One who has got you in the shadow of His hand. What a position! That the Almighty God—next time you see a hurricane on the news, be reminded that the God who brings that about keeps you in His care. The One who has created the heavens—you go out and look at the stars and you say it boggles your mind. Sit down on your lawn some night when you're at a loss for something to do and start counting! You say it boggles your mind! The expanse of space and the greatness of it. He created it all! And He says, 'I've got you right here in My hand. I'm protecting you.' And I should be worried? I should be getting ulcers? Oh my, what's going to happen? The shepherd is there and He's caring for me. He's keeping me. He's protecting Me. He's watching over me.

He closes on this note and it's where we begin our next study as well. Back to John chapter 10. "I and the Father are one." There is an equality of power. No man is able to snatch them out of My hand, no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. There is an equality of power here because there is an equality of essence. Jesus Himself is deity even as the Father is deity, and they are separate persons—Father and Son—but they are of the same essence and nature, the same being, deity. I and the Father are one. And you are secure in belonging to Me because in belonging to Me you belong to the Father because we share that essence of deity. What greater comfort could come than to know that I am kept by the Almighty God Himself. He knows me, He called me, He saved me, and now He keeps me in His hand—protects me, preserves me for Himself for eternity.

Question. You are here this morning, but have you believed in Jesus Christ? If you're here and haven't believed, you don't have that security. What do you have? You don't have life, you don't have the shepherd to care for you. But you have been confronted with the good news of Jesus Christ. He died to pay the penalty for sins. He was raised from the dead because the penalty had been paid. Have you ever come to believe in Him? Not do you have your church, not have you been baptized, not have you been confirmed. Not do you come to Indian Hills. But, have you believed that Jesus Christ the Son of God died for you? You say, Well, maybe I'm not one of the elect that can't believe. You're here this morning and God has given you the privilege of listening to the gospel. He's dealing with you graciously. Perhaps you're here because He is drawing you so that you might believe in His Son.

Secondly. For those of us who have. Are we following the shepherd as we should? Living in light of the security that is ours as His children? Basking in the truth of His Word, that He keeps me and keeps me for all eternity? Let's pray together.

Father, how we praise you for the greatness of Your love toward us. Father, unlovely as we are yet you in love and mercy and grace sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the good shepherd to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Father, I pray for those who are here this morning who have yet to respond to the greatness of this love. Lord that the Spirit might enlighten the eyes of their understanding, might bring them to the point of believing in this Savior who loved them and died for them.